Ravens again show confidence in drafting small-school players

CaptionJeff Zrebiec

Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Grade: B I'm not a huge fan of grading drafts in April. After all, who would have predicted Justin Tucker, who didn't even sign with the Ravens until several weeks after last year's draft, arguably becoming the team's most impactful rookie last season? However, the front office deserves credit for filling several holes, being patient late in rounds and adding several players that fit their profile. Best pick: Some draft pundits felt that Kansas State's Arthur Brown (pictured) would have been a worthy first-round selection for the middle-linebacker needy Ravens. To swoop in during the second round while there was a run of middle linebackers and acquire him without sacrificing too many key later picks was an impressive move. Missed opportunity: Unless the Ravens had a top five pick, they weren't going to be able to solve their left-tackle dilemma, so I don't fault them for that. But a case certainly could have been made for them to possibly trade up in the third round and grab a receiver.

Grade: B I'm not a huge fan of grading drafts in April. After all, who would have predicted Justin Tucker, who didn't even sign with the Ravens until several weeks after last year's draft, arguably becoming the team's most impactful rookie last season? However, the front office deserves credit for filling several holes, being patient late in rounds and adding several players that fit their profile. Best pick: Some draft pundits felt that Kansas State's Arthur Brown (pictured) would have been a worthy first-round selection for the middle-linebacker needy Ravens. To swoop in during the second round while there was a run of middle linebackers and acquire him without sacrificing too many key later picks was an impressive move. Missed opportunity: Unless the Ravens had a top five pick, they weren't going to be able to solve their left-tackle dilemma, so I don't fault them for that. But a case certainly could have been made for them to possibly trade up in the third round and grab a receiver. (Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports)

Grade: B The Ravens were disciplined in not deviating from their stated goal: upgrading the middle of their defense. With their first three picks, they seem to have accomplished that. First-round safety Matt Elam is a punishing tackler with superior cover skills compared to the departed Bernard Pollard. Second-round linebacker Arthur Brown is a speedy three-down type who makes big plays despite a lack of size. Third-round nose guard Brandon Williams (pictured) dominated the Division II level, but was throwing around blockers at the Senior Bowl and is stout at 6-1, 335 pounds and strong (bench pressed 225 pounds 38 times). And fourth-round outside linebacker John Simon, who plays with aggressiveness and toughness reminiscent of former Ravens outside linebacker Jarret Johnson, also fit the mold of what the Ravens are looking for in the front seven. There was a definite theme to the Ravens' draft -- adding speed and toughness to the defense. Best pick: By picking Brown out of Kansas State, the Ravens have essentially replaced two players: Ray Lewis and Dannell Ellerbe. Brown could provide the tackling and range that Lewis did in his younger years and he can be an asset as a blitzer and in pass coverage, which were Ellerbe's strengths. Obviously, there will be a transition to a higher level of football and Brown is undersized, but the Big 12 is a physical conference and Brown had no durability issues or problems grappling with bigger players. Ideally, the Ravens will keep blockers off of Brown. Missed opportunity: There wasn't anything really glaring other than not getting a pure left tackle starting candidate, but that wasn't necessarily realistic given where they were picking and how the draft unfolded. Here are a few picks that could have fallen differently for the Ravens: In the fourth round directly above the Ravens picking John Simon, ultra-productive Louisiana Tech wide receiver Quinton Patton was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers. He caught 104 passes for 1,392 yards and 13 touchdowns last season and could have been a nice fit as a potential starter. In the fifth round, the 49ers picked Alabama defensive lineman Quinton Dial with the 157th overall pick. If Dial had made it to the Ravens, they would have likely picked him. The Ravens wound up with Wisconsin offensive tackle Ricky Wagner with the final pick of the fifth round, which is still a solid pick for where they got him.

Grade: B The Ravens were disciplined in not deviating from their stated goal: upgrading the middle of their defense. With their first three picks, they seem to have accomplished that. First-round safety Matt Elam is a punishing tackler with superior cover skills compared to the departed Bernard Pollard. Second-round linebacker Arthur Brown is a speedy three-down type who makes big plays despite a lack of size. Third-round nose guard Brandon Williams (pictured) dominated the Division II level, but was throwing around blockers at the Senior Bowl and is stout at 6-1, 335 pounds and strong (bench pressed 225 pounds 38 times). And fourth-round outside linebacker John Simon, who plays with aggressiveness and toughness reminiscent of former Ravens outside linebacker Jarret Johnson, also fit the mold of what the Ravens are looking for in the front seven. There was a definite theme to the Ravens' draft -- adding speed and toughness to the defense. Best pick: By picking Brown out of Kansas State, the Ravens have essentially replaced two players: Ray Lewis and Dannell Ellerbe. Brown could provide the tackling and range that Lewis did in his younger years and he can be an asset as a blitzer and in pass coverage, which were Ellerbe's strengths. Obviously, there will be a transition to a higher level of football and Brown is undersized, but the Big 12 is a physical conference and Brown had no durability issues or problems grappling with bigger players. Ideally, the Ravens will keep blockers off of Brown. Missed opportunity: There wasn't anything really glaring other than not getting a pure left tackle starting candidate, but that wasn't necessarily realistic given where they were picking and how the draft unfolded. Here are a few picks that could have fallen differently for the Ravens: In the fourth round directly above the Ravens picking John Simon, ultra-productive Louisiana Tech wide receiver Quinton Patton was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers. He caught 104 passes for 1,392 yards and 13 touchdowns last season and could have been a nice fit as a potential starter. In the fifth round, the 49ers picked Alabama defensive lineman Quinton Dial with the 157th overall pick. If Dial had made it to the Ravens, they would have likely picked him. The Ravens wound up with Wisconsin offensive tackle Ricky Wagner with the final pick of the fifth round, which is still a solid pick for where they got him.

Growing up in the farming community of Fort Morgan, Colo., Ravens rookie offensive lineman Ryan Jensen would never have been mistaken for a future NFL draft pick.

Although his older brother, Seth, had played defensive tackle at Nebraska, Jensen weighed just 210 pounds as a high school senior and was virtually ignored by major college recruiters.

So Jensen accepted a scholarship offer to Division II Colorado State-Pueblo, where he bulked up to 317 pounds and emerged as an All-American. Selected by the Ravens in the sixth round Saturday, Jensen became the first player drafted from his school since the Kansas City Chiefs picked running back Herman Heard in the third round in 1984.

"I was the late bloomer," Jensen said Sunday afternoon in a telephone interview from Colorado. "Big schools didn't want to take a risk on me. I went down to Pueblo, and the rest is history."

Jensen is another example of the Ravens' recent drafting trend of investing a significant amount of resources into scouting smaller colleges. A year ago, the Ravens drafted three players from non-Football Bowl Subdivision schools: Delaware center Gino Gradkowski, South Carolina State safety Christian Thompson and Cal Poly cornerback Asa Jackson.

Four of their 10 draft picks this year hail from smaller schools: third-round defensive tackle Brandon Williams from Division II Missouri Southern; fourth-round fullback Kyle Juszczyk from Harvard in the Ivy League; Jensen, who played in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference; and seventh-round wide receiver Aaron Mellette from Elon out of the Southern Conference.

The reasons behind the Ravens' affinity for smaller school players stems from their desire to not overlook talent regardless of level. Unlike many of their NFL colleagues, the Super Bowl champions don't subscribe to any scouting services and require their scouts to dig harder to evaluate prospects at every school in their assigned area.

"I think scouting, in general, has gotten better across the league," Ravens assistant general manager Eric DeCosta said. "It has forced us to adapt. We've had to increase the pool of players. Where we would probably have always just drafted Pac-12, Big 10 and SEC guys, we have looked at these smaller school guys, because players will come, as we've seen, from every area, every division, every part of the country.

"We've challenged our scouts to get more information, and to investigate every possible player to give us an advantage. I think our scouts have done a good job of doing that."

Five years ago, the Ravens drafted quarterback Joe Flacco out of Delaware in the first round. In March, the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player was signed to a $120.6 million contract.

This fall, Flacco will take snaps this fall from another former Blue Hen in Gradkowski.

Some of it comes back to the investment Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti puts into the scouting department in terms of a travel budget for scouts and coaches to journey across the country to find players. There is no salary cap for scouting players.

"This goes to Steve Bisciotti and what he's allowed us to do as a personnel staff to be able to maintain as many guys as we have on our staff," general manager Ozzie Newsome said. "Our coverage is getting better because of the staff that we have, starting with our young guys all the way up to [director of college scouting] Joe [Hortiz] and Eric."

During the 2009 draft, the Ravens picked cornerback Lardarius Webb in the third round out of Nicholls State. Last year, they signed him to a $50 million contract.

Webb's success along with Flacco has made the Ravens less hesitant to go with players from smaller colleges. The Ravens also believe in the adage that an overlooked football player is typically a hungry football player intent on working hard to improve.

"For a long time we didn't draft any small school guys, or a very, very few," DeCosta said. "In the last couple of years we have drafted more. I think one of the reasons is because we really draft best available player. Honestly, I know it sounds crazy, but just about every single one of these picks was the highest-rated guy on the list, and coincidentally, some of these guys were small school guys."

The Ravens put a lot of time looking into Jensen, who will compete with Gradkowski at center and also play offensive guard after playing offensive tackle in college.

Run-game coordinator Juan Castillo went to Pueblo to work out Jensen privately, and the Ravens flew Jensen in for a visit at team headquarters earlier this month.

"A great organization like Baltimore is going to find the players who they want and think they can develop into great players," Jensen said. "In talking with Juan, his background as a Division II coach was a big influence on that aspect."

Besides visiting the Ravens, Jensen also visited the Chiefs, San Diego Chargers, Minnesota Vikings and the Seattle Seahawks. He conducted private workouts for the Arizona Cardinals, Vikings, Cincinnati Bengals, Patriots and Dallas Cowboys in Colorado.

"He's a good athlete," Hortiz said of Jensen. "Good bender, gets to the second level. He can run, smart kid and tough kid."

One of the things the Ravens like about Jensen is his hard-nosed approach to the game, which sounds a lot like how Ravens Pro Bowl offensive guard Marshal Yanda plays football.

"I like to consider myself a nasty player who likes to get down and dirty," Jensen said. "I don't necessarily want to hurt people, but I do consider myself kind of a sneaky, dirty player. I think that's something they like."

Jensen arrives with plenty of motivation to justify the Ravens' faith in him. After his days of relative obscurity in Colorado, Jensen is now joining a much bigger stage.

"I still have a lot to prove to step up to that competition and perform to the best of my ability," Jensen said. "I have that little chip on my shoulder because some guys may look at me as a small-school guy and think, 'He hasn't earned his way or proven he can play with the best.' That motivates me that much more."

The Ravens don't ignore players from smaller colleges and universities. They are willing to invest drafts picks and, in the case of quarterback Joe Flacco, a lot of money. They signed the former Delaware standout to a $120.6 million contract in March. Here's a look at the Super Bowl champions' rookie draft picks from smaller schools as well as the current players on the roster: